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In the escalating legal feud between Nike and StockX, the sporting giant now claims that the online sneaker marketplace has been selling counterfeit shoes – a claim StockX heavily refutes.
The allegation comes after an on-going battle between the two companies, with Nike taking StockX to court earlier this year over allegations of trademark infringement, claiming the marketplace is “blatantly freeriding on the Nike trademark and goodwill with its Vault NFTs,” noting that it was done without authorisation or approval. At the time, the sneaker reseller argued that its Vault NFTs, which include imagery of Nike shoes, pose no difference to any other marketplace who use images to sell sneakers and physical goods.
Now, Nike is adding to its dagger pile with a claim that it purchased four pairs of counterfeit sneakers on StockX, alleging that the platform doesn’t authenticate all items it sells, and accuses the marketplace of false advertising.
“Those four pairs of counterfeit shoes were all purchased within a short two-month period on StockX’s platform, all had affixed to them StockX’s ‘Verified Authentic’ hangtag, and all came with a paper receipt from StockX in the shoe box stating that the condition of the shoes is ‘100% Authentic’,” said Nike in its complaint via a Bloomberg report.
StockX took to socials with the following message.
— StockX (@stockx) May 11, 2022
One of the four pairs of sneakers purchased via StockX is said to be the “Patent Bred” Air Jordan 1 High OG – StockX’s best-selling NFT sneaker.
StockX introduced its Vault NFTs platform in January of this year, allowing customers buy and sell sneakers without having to touch – or purchase – the physical item. The NFTs certify ownership of the sneaker, which can also be exchanged for the physical item. Essentially, the Vault NFTs do not correlate to digital sneakers but rather are physical sneakers that have been stored in a vault and can be traded digitally online.
